Thursday, October 28, 2010
Schools McCance protest in Pleasant Plains
Posted by David Koon on Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 6:56 AM
Protests at the Midland School District in Pleasant Plains are on for tomorrow, with organizers saying they plan to keep returning to the school for further protests until controversial board member Clint McCance resigns.
McCance is at the center of a firestorm of media attention over remarks he made on his Facebook page saying that he wished all homosexuals would commit suicide, and that he plans to kick his children out of the house if they tell him they are gay. Max Brantley has written exclusively about the case on this blog, and appeared today in an interview on MSNBC
Tonight's planning meeting at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Little Rock was hosted by local gay and lesbian advocacy group the Center for Artistic Revolution, and drew about 45 people, with 17 saying they planned to travel to the Midland School District tomorrow to hold signs and ask for McCance's resignation. The protesters will leave tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. from the McDonald's at the Kiehl Avenue exit off 67/167 in North Little Rock. They plan to be back in Little Rock by 1 p.m.
CAR director Randi Romo called tomorrow's protest a "visibility," and warned those attending to not engage anyone who tries to argue with them, to stay on the public sidewalk, and to obey any order by a police officer. There will be designated people to talk to anyone who approaches the protest. The protesters will hold signs bearing the faces of gay and lesbian children who have committed suicide in the last few months. On the back, the signs will say: "Is this enough, Mr. McCance?" CAR is also making signs which say "Resign" and "All Kids Matter."
"It's important that we present a cohesive and calm message," Romo told the group. She later said that if McCance doesn't resign before the November meeting of the Midland School Board, they will also picket the school then.
UPDATE: The video from last night's Anderson Cooper 360 about the case is now online. Part 2 includes a conversation with the original whistleblower, Anthony Turner:
Part 1
Part 2
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The McCance debacle is the lead story on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 tonight. It’s the best coverage and most comprehensive TV coverage I’ve seen of the situation. One of those being interviewed is Anthony Turner, a 1988 graduate of Midland High School, who was two years behind McCance in school.
Turner’s the person who blew the whistle on McCance’s posting on Facebook. McCance’s father is quoted by Cooper as having said he has no idea why his son would have posted such a thing, and that “everybody is just shocked.” If there’s a rerun of this newscast, AT bloggers might want to catch it.
Dad was probably not so shocked at his son's comments as he was at the, "blowback."
I am currently touring the Great Smokey Mountains and enjoying fall colors so I can't be there in body but will be there in spirit.
Max, we don't agree much on school issues, but thank you for what you have done here!
I don't agree with picketing the school. I agree that the man should resign, and I sincerely hope his business fails, but the school and the children shouldn't suffer for his ignorance. He's an elected official. He wasn't chosen by school administrators; he was chosen by the public. Rally at his place of business, at his house, but not at the school.
Good luck to you all! Remember non-violence solves more than violence. Sounds like your demonstration will be very successful. Praying for all parties involved.
In a small enough town like Pleasant Plains, the school is the most visible place anyway. And it's a high school. Those kids need to know that there are people who care about them. There may be a child or two in that very school who needs to know that "it gets better".
I wish someone would hold up a sign that says "Suicide is never the right answer".
I understand why you would not want picketing at the school, but perhaps this is an opportunity for a teachable moment. Kids are always watching the actions of adults, and in this time of increased awareness about bullying, a non-violent protest that shows kids one way for adults (and kids) to stand up for others could be a valuable lesson for them. Surely they are aware of what's going on and they are talking about it in school...it
could be an opportunity for teachers to encourage students to talk about how they feel about the situation and what they can do as citizens and fellow students. It's a chance for them to observe a real-life situation and how they feel about it and bullying in general. Just a thought...from a teacher.
Perhaps the school is the very place the protest SHOULD be held: there are a lot of youth there who need to see that people are willing to stand up for the rights of students to attend school without fear from repressive board members.
The youth need to see their advocates stand openly.
Are you sure McCance was not just reassuring the parents in his school board district that he agrees with them and would do everything in his power to represent their views?
Reassuring the parents? With that language? Any parent that is reassured with the words "fag" and "queer" needs to reconsider who they're getting reassurance from.
Anderson Cooper 360 gave a full report at the top of the show (first 15 minutes ) it was marvellous , Anderson tore into McCance and labelled him a BULLY , I recommend you watch it .
PLEASE do not protest at the schools. That only punishes the students. Protest around the town, at a busy intersection where the most VOTERS will be around. He's up for re-election on Tuesday. Someone has a real chance of getting a last minute write-in campaign going.
Anderson Cooper videos are up.
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2010…
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2010…
the school is the best place to have the protest like what was said earlier it will maybe help some kids eyes open up a little and show that that the status quoe is not an immovable mountain but totally dependant upon the people and their own opinion and maybe this will encourage our youth to stand up and fight more in the future because we all know that is what it is going to take to get some real change in this world. 'power to the people!!
I just found a pretty vocal "pro-McCance" page on Facebook. Protesters are likely to be met with some pretty strong resistance. If I was close enough to my ol' stomping grounds, that wouldn't keep me from being there. But the possibility of violence does exist. Therefore, maybe some place other than the school should be considered.
****PLEASE do not protest at the schools. That only punishes the students.****
Freedom of assembly
Free Speech
Standing up for basic human dignity
Yeah boy, that's really punishing students. Probably the best civics class they will ever have. I'm inspired by this action and terribly sorry i can't make it on such short notice. In spirit, I'm already there.
Sorry I can't make it that far tomorrow, my plate is full and running over, but I'll be there in spirit...not that that helps a whole lot. This is a teachable moment. A shock & awe protest is in order. And may the spirit of Gandhi & Martin Luther King Jr. be with all protesters.
We need a quick response to every bigoted dinosaur thought word or deed. It's a hundred years past time to let the Neanderthals know their time is over. We need to help them understand the part of the Constitution that says All Men Are Created Equal. That means any sex, any skin color, any country of origin, any sexual orientation, religious and non-religious, smart, dumb or tattooed over every inch of their bodies.
ALL means ALL. It covers Bill Gates and it covered the wino in the ditch. I was reading today of a white man arrested in Fort Baptist in 1935 for calling a black man, Mister. I mean thrown in jail! How far we've come! But not near far enough when someone as obviously ignorant as McCance can be elected to a school board anywhere in this country.
The letter released from that school board today is as ignorant as he is. Fire him! If you have no mechanism in place invent one tomorrow. The bigot ought to have enough sense to resign and slink away in disgrace. It's the only thing that will prevent Pleasant Plains from forever being known as the anus of America.
Wipe this son of a bitch and flush.
What Eureka Springs said. Students need to know they are not hated for their sexual orientation.
I am out of state or I would join the peaceful protest at the school. Yes, the school is a proper protest location. McCance is a School Board member. His actions and words affect the safety and education of every child in the school district. The children, faculty, administrators, and patrons of the school district deserve to know that all children are welcomed in public schools and will be protected from bullying, bigotry, and abuse by other children or by adults, including a bullying, bigoted, and abusive school board member.
I also write as a Christian pastor whose congregation welcomes all persons to be part of our inclusive and progressive community. Jesus did not condone or command bigotry toward anyone. It is shameful that some Christians (like McCance) seem unable to recognize the plain disconnect between their comments and actions and the religion of Jesus.
Thanks Max and AT for covering this important issue. Thanks Randi Romo, our righteous sister, for acting promptly to organize a peaceful protest response.
Let's not let the protest end our vigilance and insistence. McCance needs to be removed. If adult bullies aren't addressed, we can expect young bullies to grow in number and in the viciousness of their abusive behavior.
Stay strong!
Ty-de Services Inc: (870) 307-4758.
Clint McCance introduces himself on the recording.
Call him now and "schedule an appointment!"
Putting in my two-cents' worth for demonstrating at the school.
It is a school isue.
It is not a demonstration to "punish" the students. It is a demonstration to SUPPORT the students. If we're going to support the students, then demonstrate where the students can see the support.
McCance posted as a school board member on a school-related issue. Demostrating at his place of business puts the demonstration in the wrong arena. He's not likely to have many gay customers at his place of business. But his words have been addressed to students, and those students need to know that the community is rising to protect them AGAINST HIM!
IMHO
The straightest man in the world is from Arkansas and he says, "It's Okay To Be Gay". This is amazing. See for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYvH7Gjbxh4
Bravo to Max and David and the Arkansas Times for being the first journalists in the state to cover this. Bravo to the protestors and all concerned Arkansans speaking up for the students and against hate.
A note to the writer of this blog entry (David Koon, I assume) and all bloggers:
Please always use full day, date, and time info in your blog entries, just as you would (or should) in a regular newspaper article. This blog entry just refers to protests being scheduled for "tomorrow" and that was probably sufficient when you must have first posted it last night (judging from the timestamps on the comments), but it's rather confusing this morning. Since you added an update, the blog entry is now timestamped "Posted by David Koon on Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 6:56 AM."
Thanks!
What a bunch of cowards you all are. This is America and we used to have freedom of speech, as long as you are not talking about Homosexuals, Muslims, or Blacks. We lost that freedom when you elected that coward Obama who only stands up for Muslims and blacks. Where was he with his Beer Summit on this one ?
You are cowards by the fact that you stand up for the Homosexuals who were threatening the whole Mccance families lives. They had to flee the state due to the death threats from the Homosexuals. They are the ones who need to be fleeing. If you are homosexual, or the Faggot Anthony Turner who started this whole mess--Stay out of Pleasant Plains, you are not welcome here !!!! Take your clown circus somewhere else. If you agree with the Homosexuals that death threats are okay, and we do not have the right to free speech if we have something to say about them, then you can keep your stupid butts out of Pleasant Plains too.
For you idiots that think it was okay to have a gay rights protest at our school, consider the fact that it almost , and may still cost the students and community our Fall Festival and ballgames due to saftey concerns for the students because of the death threats from the Homosexual community.
You are all as stupid as the Homosexuals and the media who blew this all out of proportion for a photo op and cause to further their gay rights agenda. If you don`t like what we have to say, then stay the hell out of our town. We are not here to please you or kiss your butt as Obama does for the muslims and blacks.
Well CRY ME A RIVER, "loss of free.."
There was a point when lots of people would have been interested in visiting your town. But I doubt it now. Look around Pleasant Plains and see the poverty: house trailers, broken down boarded up buildings, few jobs in the town itself. You have school board members who can't even speak and write a sentence with correct grammar. But apparently that's the way you want to live, you call it "country" living. The rest of us call it "poverty." The difference is, you and idiots like you aren't educated enough to KNOW you're impoverished and uneducated. You think that's how everyone should live. Well you're wrong. Many of us wanted better lives for ourselves, even though we grew up in the same circunstances as you.
In other states in this nation, country people have amazing lives, nice homes, ranches, nice vehicles and college degrees. But you wouldn't know that.
Further: you again show your ignornace when you lament the "loss of free speech." Free speech is protected from intrusion by the government. Not from the people. In other words, the US GOVERNMENT or the STATE OF ARKANSAS cannot pass laws or have you arrested for expressing your free speech. However, public discourse can and WILL punish you for using free speech if it's unpopular. And that's not illegal. Free speech is protected from the government, not the people.
Oh, and you're a DUMB ASS. How's that for free speech?
Rosem, I agree with you completely. The children/students will benefit tremendously from seeing that they matter and what they think and feel also matters. I can't imagine being their age again and having so many children feeling they have no options other than to take their owns lives. It makes one wonder if maybe we have forgotten or gotten away from the fact that young people need all the love, care and understanding one is able to give. Being young is hard and most of the time furnishs more questions than answers. We should do our best to make sure the answers/examples they are getting the best possible. These demonstrations and the potential positive reinforcement they create could be the one thing they desperately need and could make the difference between feeling's of hopeful and hopeless!
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